1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to line recoil devices for outriggers and related fishing devices. In particular, it relates to a line recoil device which recoils an outrigger line when an outrigger is collapsed.
2. Background
Fishing is an ancient activity which is pursued for both commercial and recreational reasons. A variety of methods have been developed, such as nets, fishing rods, outriggers, etc., to assist fishermen. Nets are generally used to catch large quantities of fish at the same time, and therefore they are of primary interest to commercial fishermen. In contrast, outriggers and fishing rods are typically used to catch individual fish. As a result, they are more often used by recreational fishermen. Fishing rods allow fishermen to fish from boats, to fish from the shoreline, or even to fish from elevated structures such as bridges. Outriggers are used on boats to extend the placement of a fishing line away from the side of the boat.
Outriggers and fishing rods both control the extension of fishing lines for substantial distances into the water. A problem associated with these types of fishing devices is that they often become entangled. In the case of fishing rods, lines often become entangled during the casting process. This occurs because during the initial phase of casting, a line is extending at a high speed. Once the sinker and hook impact the water, the reel continues to spin at a relatively high speed. This may cause the fishing line to create rats nest within the reel. This interrupts the fishing process since the fishermen must stop to disentangle the fishing line before it can be recast.
On the other hand, outriggers experience problems with line entanglement when the outrigger pole is collapsed. The typical outrigger pole is structured as a telescoping device in which multiple segments slidably fit within one another. The tubes may be extended such that the end of the first segment interlocks with the end of the next segment such that the outrigger would have an extended length when the telescoping segments are extended and a short length when the telescoping segments are collapsed inside one another. A problem that occurs when telescoping outrigger is collapsed is that the line supported by the outrigger does not retract in an orderly manner. During the collapsing process, the fishermen would attempt to collapse the various segments of the telescoping outrigger and simultaneously manipulate the fishing line by hand. Unlike fishing rods, collapsing a telescoping outrigger requires two hands. Due to this, the fishermen collapsing the outrigger is not able to carefully manage the excess fishing line Often this results in the fishing line being ignored while fishermen collapses the outrigger. When this happens, the line falls onto the deck of the boat or becomes entangled in the outrigger. In turn, this can create problems in that the fishermen may have to spend time disentangling the line. In addition, it can also create a safety problem in that the loose fishing line may cause a fishermen to trip while walking down the deck of the boat. It would be desirable to have an automatic method of avoiding entangled fishing lines when the length of outriggers are reduced to improve both the enjoyment, efficiency, and safety of fishing.
While the prior art has provided a variety of outrigger devices, it is failed to provide a convenient method of automatically recoiling the fishing line of an outrigger to reduce line entanglement, and to reduce possible safety hazards.